FIGHT BACK! BY DAVID HOROWITZ

National Focus on Fat

        No matter what you call it -- "overweight," "hefty" or even
"calorically challenged" -- fat is fat, and it shortens the life  of
300,000 people every year in this country. One-third of all  American
adults (35 percent of women and 31percent of men) and 21  percent of
teen-agers are significantly overweight. Those extra  pounds increase
the risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease  and some forms of
cancer. And in spite of our national obsession  with health and fitness,
obesity rates are rising year after year.

        Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said the problem
amounts to a national health crisis. "America is truly suffering  from a
new epidemic," said Koop, "an epidemic of disease and disability and
death, all traced to the plain fact that too many  Americans are too
big, that too many Americans are overweight, and  too many Americans are
sedentary or relatively inactive."

        Koop appeared recently with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
at the White House to announce a project called "Shape Up  America," a
national crusade to get people to eat better, lose  weight and get more
exercise. Koop says even modest weight loss  would improve the health of
millions of Americans. "We need to  deal with being overweight," said
Koop, "and we need to deal with  a society suffering from an epidemic of
obesity."

        But how do we do that? Americans already spend $33 billion a
year on weight-loss products and programs, usually with little or  no
lasting results. National studies show that those who go on  diets
usually lose only about 10 percent of their body weight.  Most regain
two-thirds of that loss within a year and virtually  all of it within
five years.

        A committee of experts convened by the National Academy of
Sciences has proposed a set of guidelines to bring truth in  advertising
to commercial weight-control programs. It wants these companies to
disclose their actual success rates, rather than  focus on testimonials
from indi-vidual clients. The panel also  recommends more careful
screening of clients so that people with  serious medical problems are
not enrolled in programs that could  endanger their health.

        Jenny Craig, one of the country's largest weight-control
programs, called the report "a call to action." But the com-pany  also
pointed out that these guidelines are voluntary and that  unless all the
competing programs adopt the same standards of  advertising, the panel's
recommendations will probably have little  real impact.

        Right now, your best source of advice on losing weight is  still
your own doctor. Someone who weighs 300 pounds with a  history of
diabetes and heart trouble should not even consider  beginning a diet
and exercise program without close medical  supervision. For others,
shaping up is simply a matter of changing  their eating and exercise
habits.

        Whether you choose a do-it-yourself approach, a com-mercial
weight -oss program or in-patient clinical treat-ment, the key to
keeping the pounds off is long-term behav-ior modification. Losing
weight, then gaining it back and losing it again is very  dangerous, and
defeats the whole pur-pose of losing weight in the  first place. What
you need is a whole new approach to eating and  exercise -- one that
will last you a lifetime.

        If you have any questions or comments, please write to David
Horowitz in the Consumer Forum+ (go FIGHTBACK). COPYRIGHT 1995 CREATORS
SYNDICATE, INC.